How Do You Pick Your Next Read?

There are so many books available at our fingertips today. With ebooks, you can shop and start reading a new book in a few minutes.  But the number and variety of books can be overwhelming. There are well over 1 million books published a year.  Even if a book is one of the fewer and fewer traditionally published, the author shoulders more and more of the burden to publicize the book.  Considering all of that, how do you pick your next read? 

1) Sometimes we are lucky to have family or friends with similar reading taste and can take recommendations from them.  But for those who aren't so lucky, where do you look?

2)  Amazon suggested reads was always a good way to look at similar books and discover a new read, but that has gone away and Amazon is now flooded with paid ads by authors all struggling to get your attention.  

3)  Goodreads isn't perfect, but at least it is all about books and readers with a little of the social aspect of Facebook.  As a reader, do you visit Goodreads regularly, follow authors or reviewers, and find books to read via your favorite reviewer? 

4)  Or there are Facebook readers groups to get input from other readers what they have enjoyed.  Facebook also has author ads.  Have you bought a book based on a FB reader group or ad?

5)  A more old school approach is newspaper or magazine reviews.  They are fewer out there, and they are often syndicated so the same review hits a number of newspapers.  Have you purchased a book based on a review in a newspaper or magazine?

6)  Blogs are still influential and popular in spite of the ever changing trending app of the moment.  There is a plethora of book blogs with reviews of books, often genre specific.  Have you found a new book to read from a blog?

7)  Then there are subscription newsletters for books (BookBub, BargainBooksy, The Fussy Librarian, BookGorilla, Ereader News Today etc.)  These are often for books on sale or bargain priced and seem quite popular.  

Please vote in the poll how you typically find your next read.  If there are other avenues you use to find the next book to read, please share in the comments.  Thank you!

Reader Poll - Give me some feedback

Hello there,  I would like to do something a little different on the blog.  Something interactive, get your participation.  So please answer this one question and feel free to give your own suggestion as well.  I'm looking forward to your responses.

Reader Poll

Please full out the reader survey for what you would like to see on this blog.

Thank you for your time!

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Reader Poll

Today we have a poll so I can get your feedback on how I review books.

In my book reviews, I have not included a rating system because what people like is subjective.  Within the first six months of starting this blog (I am approaching the blog's three year anniversary) I read a book that I thought was poorly done overall, "what was the editor thinking?" sort of book.  I wrote a mediocre review without open criticism, but not by any stretch recommending it.  I had a few people leave comments of how they loved the book.  One reader specifically mentioned loving a scene that I thought was terrible.  This reinforced in my mind that I should just present what I saw in a book and let each reader decide if it resonates with them.  So I have shied away from a rating system.

However, I seem to be one of the few in the blogosphere that does not provide a rating system for book reviews.  So, today I am offering the subject up for your input.  Do you prefer to have a rating system on book reviews?  Please take this quick "yes" or "no" poll.  I welcome comments to discuss this.  Thank you sharing!